The Perfect Knight and the Illusionist (BL)
Chapter 14: Mirror

Chapter 14: Mirror

LEO

Mario was really scary for a while... but the donut he brought was very nice. I forgot for a moment the white knuckles of his knife holding hand while I was eating it, but once the sweet treat was done I remembered again how distressed he looked.

Scary...

"Psst, Leo," Thomas suddenly called me, tapping on my shoulder.

"Eh?"

I looked, then realized everyone but me at the table was standing, alert. I followed their gaze and there was the Dean I saw at the ceremony next to us. I quickly got up from my seat as well and bowed.

"Good evening, mister!"

"It’s ’Sir,’ Leo...," Thomas whispered.

"Good evening, Sir."

But the Dean didn’t seem mad. His hands were clasped in front of him and the wrinkles around his eyes made him look like he was smiling.

"How are you feeling, Leo?" the Dean asked me.

"Very full, Sir."

"Do you still feel weak? Dizzy, perhaps?"

"No, Sir. I’m strong, Sir."

"That’s good to hear."

After saying that, he looked around, and told everyone at the table,

"As you saw today, Leo had a slight fitness issue during the magic aptitude test."

I felt a little embarrassed to be singled out, but his voice wasn’t harsh.

"But of course, Leo is with us because we believe in his ability to be an excellent Royal Knight for the Empire, just as we believe in every single one of you."

"Yes, Sir," we all answered together.

"Leo will be receiving a personalized recovery and fitness program in the evenings for a while. As good comrades, I trust you all will be supportive too."

"Yes, Sir," everyone said, except me. I was blushing a little.

"Very good. Now, Leo, come with me."

Thomas gave me an encouraging pat on my back and Dimitri gave me a thumbs up as I was led away.

I was a little too nervous to ask the Dean where we were going, so I just followed him quietly. He did not say anything more either, so we left the dormitory, walked for about ten minutes, and arrived at a small lone building in a rather empty field.

"Is this the place, Sir?"

"Yes, Leo. Would you be able to find this place by yourself next time?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Very good."

With that, he knocked on the door four times, after which someone promptly opened it from inside. He wore a black leather armor and I saw that he had one long and one short sword on straps. That made me think he was a guard for this place or something, but I couldn’t imagine what may be here that needed guarding.

"Good luck, Leo," the Dean said and left me with the man, who simply gestured me to follow him.

For a building that looked so small from outside, it sure had a lot of doors as it was merely a curved hallway with series of doors. After we passed the third one, there were stairs leading downstairs, dimly lit by candles around the wall. The man still hadn’t said anything to me, and just like before, he just pointed down the stairs.

’Down I go then.’

The stairs was surprisingly long with many steps as it spiraled down, and once I reached the bottom, there was yet another door, but this one was made of sturdy metal. The door opened before I could knock and there stood the well dressed gentleman I saw earlier in the day.

"Good to see you again, Leo," he said.

"How are you, mister?"

"I’m fine. Thank you."

I felt a little more comfortable after seeing a familiar face. But the room was dark, only illuminated by a little lamp that the gentleman was holding.

"Are you my trainer?" I asked him, thinking that this was a little odd place to train my fitness.

"For now, yes."

"What are we training?"

"Please take a seat."

He pointed at the wooden chair that was in the middle of the room. I sat down, and only when he brought the lamp close I noticed that I was sitting in front of a large mirror.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"We will start with a simple training, Leo. All you have to do is sit and look into the mirror."

"Er... sorry?"

"Easy, isn’t it? You just sit and look into the mirror. I will leave the lamp here for you."

"Aren’t you going to stay?"

"I will come back when the time is over."

With that, he put the lamp on the ground between the mirror and me, and walked into the darkness quietly.

So I sat and looked into the mirror, not quite understanding, but trying my best to do what the gentleman asked me to do.

I sat still for a while, then my nose felt a little itchy. I wasn’t sure if it was okay for me to move.

"Mister? Are you there?"

I heard no answer.

"May I scratch my nose?"

I asked into the darkness, but still heard nothing.

’Well... he didn’t tell me I can’t move.’

I scratched my nose and that was fine.

I sat for another few minutes. I looked into the mirror, but there was nothing special there. Just my own reflection in the mirror.

’How was this supposed to help me get fit?’

I sat for another ten minutes or so, then I started to get fidgety. Since it was okay for me to move a little earlier, I figured I’d just get up for a second and stretch a bit.

But as soon as I got up, I heard the gentleman’s voice coming from no direction in particular.

"You were instructed to remain seated, Leo."

"Oh! I’m sorry, mister!"

He did not answer.

After sitting like that for a while, I couldn’t even tell anymore how much time had passed. I thought maybe this was some kind of a puzzle, but I really saw nothing but myself in the mirror in the dim light from the lamp.

The room was so quiet that my own breathing sound was bothering me, and it bothered me even more when I realized that there was no other sound in the room. Not even the faint sound of a breeze or water flow you could always hear when it was dead quiet at night.

I was so bored that I started to study my own face in the mirror. And for a while, it was actually interesting. We didn’t have a standing mirror at our home, only a hand-held one that Mom used, so I mostly only saw my reflection on the windows, and even then, I didn’t have much reason to spend any time doing so. Now, here, with nothing to do, and after being told to look into the mirror, there was nothing to do except to look at myself.

But even that had limits. No matter how much I looked, it was just me and nothing more. Then suddenly I heard the gentleman whisper into my both ears.

"Who’s in the mirror?"

"It’s me."

"Is it?"

"Ye—"

But when I looked into the mirror again, I saw my face, but somehow,

I wasn’t so sure.